<p>Actually, fruit has a lot of sugar and is relatively high in calories compared to vegetables. It still has a lot of nutrients and is a good food choice in moderation.</p>
<p>Novelisto-
I do enjoy the little York Patties as my treat. TRHey satisfy the chocolate and sweet craving and they are low fat. However, truth be told, I <em>really</em> wish I could eat a Hershey chocolate almond bar, but thats a no-no.</p>
<p>Jym626 – I feel for you. My fav-rav is an Almond Joy but the coconut drives the calories and fat into the stratosphere! </p>
<p>The truth is…as I tell my daughter who needs no helps staying in shape as she swims miles every day for the team…that almost nobody gains a whole lotta weight in one go, if their health is reasonably good and they aren’t vacuuming the frig with their faces every day. It’s the slow, insidious creep of 2 or 3 lbs a year. You hardly notice them but once they appear, they are there for good. 2 lbs a year for 10 or 20 years…no wonder old wedding dresses don’t fit anymore. So I tell my girl…pick the weight you feel happy at. She’s about 140 and solid muscle. Exercise and eat right. Don’t gain or keep the first 2 and you won’t gain the next 18 - 28. Too late for me. Fortunately she takes after Daddy who never had a problem with his weight and now that he’s gluten-free probably never will.</p>
<p>I was doing a lot better a year ago than I am now, but it is pretty easy to control portions without feeling deprived. Over the weekend we had cheesecake and afterwards I kicked myself for eating a whole piece instead of a half…it tasted good but not fabulous…usually a thin piece of whatever hits the spot. When we go out for Chinese, I’ve decided that it’s better if I just order my favorite high calorie treat and immediately put half of in in a “to go” box, than to try to order something “low cal” that I don’t really like. Same way if we go to my favorite hamburger place. I’d rather just cut the burger in half and relish half of it than to get something with fewer calories. </p>
<p>If I am craving something like chips (yes, we buy them…bad yes, but the kids eat them and we’re weak) I get them out of the pantry, put some in a small bowl, put the bag away in the pantry, then go to another room to eat the chips. I hardly ever go to the trouble to get up and go back to the pantry to get more.</p>
<p>^^^ What Chinese food is high calorie?? Something fried??</p>
<p>Portion control is the key. ANd as long as we burn more calories than we ingest, we ill lose weight. Pure and simple.</p>
<p>jym–any of those chicken dishes where the meat is dredged in cornstarch, then fried in lots of oil, and a sweetish sauce is added. You’d be amazed. And those are the dishes my H likes best!</p>
<p>Maybe gluten-free would be better for all of us.</p>
<p>I agree portion control is the best thing…enjoy small amounts of what you love. But some people love everything! 
And don’t like moving so much.</p>
<p>::note to self:: Soup and stir-fried chinese food only…</p>
<p>I’ll stick with japanese food. I love sushi, sashimi and chirashi. And edamame.</p>
<p>
I have been 100% gluten-free for the past 6 months and have gained weight. 
There are plenty of high-calorie, empty calorie gluten-free foods, and I have unfortunately managed to eat way too many. Especially at first, I replaced bad gluteny foods (cookies, cake) with other bad gluten-free foods (gluten-free cookies, potato & tortilla chips, candy) because I felt sorry for myself that I could no longer eat certain things.</p>
<p>I think Japanese (real Japanese) food is lower in fat & calories than Chinese. In general. All I know is the truism that 2 hours after Chinese food you’re hungry again is even truer for Japanese food. I’m sometimes hungry when I LEAVE the restaurant. 
There’s precious little fat in sushi & sashimi.</p>
<p>My dh was all puffy, in his face and stomach, after all these years of eating wheat/gluten. He’s never had much of a sweet-tooth. When he stopped eating the bad stuff, the inflammation went away along with about 25 lbs. Now he has to force himself to eat more so he doesn’t keep losing weight.</p>
<p>Just call us Mr. and Mrs. Jack Spratt.</p>
<p>So much depends on what & how you order. Many of us in HI eat Chinese and Japanese food for much of our diet. If you order correctly, it’s pretty low in calories and filling. That has been our experience, but yes, there are places which have very dainty and non-filling offerings that are over-priced.</p>
<p>( um Himom- don’t you also have SPAM sushi? 
- haven’t been to Hawaii, but I have seen it sold @ Uwajimaya)</p>
<p>I like some Japanese foods- but in general seems very salty-and while I do love rice- it has a high glycemic index & I may be pre-diabetic- so I try and watch that sort of thing.</p>
<p>I like Thai, Indian and love Vietnamese- the French influence was a good thing for the food I think.</p>
<p>I feel for those of you who have a real sweet tooth- from what I have read- the taste receptors are basically fixed when you are young- my mother didn’t give me many sweets- as I was the oldest- so I don’t get cravings for chocolate or sugar- but like the case with many subsequent children- with my siblings she apparently said “what the hell” & my sister & brother both struggle with their weight- my sister because of sweets & my brother- because he apparently is under the assumption that he is 15 & growing</p>
<p>On the rare cases when I do have a strong sugar craving ( like before my period), I find that eating a dill pickle does something to stop it. Otherwise- I eat what I want- but I mostly have healthy food in the house- no chips/candy/pastries ( ice cream counts as healthy cause there is milk in it sometimes I even get tofutti!)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t want to gross anyone out, but have you (as an adult) ever taasted breast milk? It tastes like melted ice cream! We all get “sweets” from birth!</p>
<p>I love sweets. The best is Lindt 85% chocolate. Unfortunately, I cannot have it after 2pm - will not sleep well. I get my load in am every day, including haveing chocolate for breakfast. I would not worry too much about holiday weight, eventually it will go away since we are eating differently in non-holiday times. For snack in a evening, I like cheese, nuts, prunes, dried apricots, apples, peanut butter by a spoon. I hope I did not gross anybody.</p>
<p>cHINESE food is VERY high – cal. Take a peak into the kitchen and watch how much oil they put in that wok before they stir fry the veggies. Theres a lot of peanut oil floating around in even the most innocent looking Chinese dish.
(with the exception of things like steamed fish)</p>
<p>Depends on who the cook is. The asian food many of us have had most of our life (speaking for myself & many friends) is actually quite healthy and LOW calorie steamed, parboiled or stir-fried vegetables with small portions of protien. How much starch anyone chooses to eat is another matter. Home cooked asian food is generally healthier than that sold at restaurants–we can choose to cook with less and healthier oils (I use olive oil & in small quantities), we use less sodium than restaurants and no MSG. </p>
<p>Sweets are unfortunately high in calories. No one in our immediate family has much of a sweet tooth–we like a taste but that’s about it.</p>
<p>sorry-- I was refering to restaurant prepared Chinese food. I “stir-fry” at home with a very well seasoned wok, so that I can use just a few teaspoons of oil.</p>
<p>To be specific, the Bejing Beef at Panda Express has 400 calories per serving. Their orange chicken has 545 calories. In contrast, their mixed veggie entre has 90 calories but I’d never order that.</p>
<p>we also have lots of asian restaurants here- that don’t use MSG & use local ingredients.
Many dishes are vegetarian, or can be made that way-meat adds lots of calories/fat. I think one of the biggest reasons why we are overweight is pretty simple, it isn’t what we eat, we just eat too much of it. Do the French have all you can eat Sunday buffets? ;)</p>
<p>In reference to missypies comment ( I wasn’t breastfed- I was a premie and was given various formulas all that I was apparently allergic to) I don’t want to gross anyone out either, but we eat a lot of food that we are allergic to/have trouble completely digesting.</p>
<p>Lots of processed food that just gunks up our insides and overwhelms our liver.</p>
<p>Ive found that going on a controlled( gentle- I don’t completely fast) spring cleaning program about two times a year- makes me feel better, I have more energy )
[Detoxify</a> Yourself for Longevity and Health | Bastyr Center for Natural Health](<a href=“http://bastyrcenter.org/content/view/337/&page=]Detoxify”>http://bastyrcenter.org/content/view/337/&page=)</p>
<p>It’s been said before but EmeraldKitty is right; processed food is often the culprit. One of the biggest offenders in the battle against obesity and good health is…SALT. I felt so validated when I read today’s online NY Times story about the NYC health department’s meeting with major food manufacturers in an effort to get them to reduce the sodium content in their packaged foods. For several months I’ve essentially gone cold turkey on table salt. And I read the sodium content on packaged foodstuffs very carefully. That and other improved eating habits have led to a significant weight loss. Try it folks.</p>